An antique Japanese Ko Tansu (personal storage chest) made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. All original hardware including the Warabite bronze handles and hand made iron fittings. Constructed using straight dovetail joinery and hardened wooden nails. Two small drawers are hidden behind the hinged door.

Chests such as these were used primarily by a Japanese family to store their documents, letters, ephemera, photos and other treasured keepsakes...

An antique Japanese Funa Tansu (ship chest) made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. All original hand made iron hardware including the Kakute front drawer handles and the Warabite side carrying handles. Construction includes straight dovetail joinery with hardened wooden nails. Lock plates include parallel vertical bars that double as decorative as well as strong security connectors preventing easy removal from the drawer fronts...

An antique Japanese Yosegi Kobako (marquetry personal drawer box) from the Hakone region made of various natural colored woods with a Hinoki (Cypress) structure and drawer backs. The expert craftsmanship is quite evident by how the front marquetry design flows seamlessly across all of the drawers while the horizontal and vertical marquetry of the top and sides adds texture and dimension to the piece.

Yosegi is a centuries old traditional Japanese craft that began in the late Edo era...

An antique Japanese Chobako (merchant box) made of thick Hinoki (Cypress) and thick Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Straight dovetail joinery with hardened wooden nail construction. Original bronze and iron hardware. Two different sized coin slots at the top of the box. Includes a working key.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912) Dimensions: 10 7/8" Side x 12" High x 11 7/8" Deep

An antique Japanese 2 section Gifu Choba Tansu (merchant chest) made of Hinoki (Cypress) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. Uncommon and rare small size. The sides feature horizontal cross ribs for added strength and durability. Its construction included mortise and tenon as well as through mortise and tenon joinery. Behind the two sets of sliding doors are storage areas originally used to keep business store records and ledgers...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant's chest) made of Keyaki Burl (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. The sides of the chest feature horizontal cross ribs for added strength and durability. Constructed using mortise & tenon, through mortise & tenon, and double through mortise & tenon joinery. Use of hardened wood nails...

An antique Japanese Gyosho Tansu (peddler's chest) made entirely of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. The hinged door opens to 4 drawers where the merchant's wares were stored. The bottom drawer was used to keep documents, writing brushes, an inkstone and other business related accessories. Two iron rings on each side used with rope for carrying this chest on a peddler's back...

An antique Japanese Haribako (traditional tall neck sewing box) made of Kuwa (Mulberry), Kuri (Chestnut), and Kiri (Paulownia) woods. All original finish and hand made bronze hardware. The two upper drawers and the small drawer on the upper neck all have wooden sliding covers to protect the contents within. The hinged cover on the upper neck opens to a small recess where a pin cushion was kept. The center of the neck has a hole where originally a ruler called Shaku used to be held...

An antique Japanese Funa Tansu (Captain's Chest) made entirely of Kirinoki (Paulownia) wood. All original finish and hand made iron fittings. It was constructed using straight dovetail joinery and hardened wooden nails. The base has an original cross beam support that adds strength and durability to this chest...

An antique Japanese Nihon Matsu Kasane Tansu (stacking chest on chest) that was made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. All original beautiful Urushi lacquer finish and hand made iron and bronze hardware including the Warabite handles. Pine and plum blossom Atari (handle backstops) and lock plates featuring a wealthy traveler's hat, Mino (straw cape), Takarabukuro (treasure bag) and Uchide No Kozuchi (treasure mallet)...

A rare antique Japanese Kuruma Tansu (wheeled chest) made of Keyaki (Zelkova) and Kirinoki (Paulownia) woods. All original including the finish and hand made iron fittings. Unique all drawer design. Iron rope rings on each corner to help roll this chest from place to place...

An antique Japanese Kasane Tansu (stacked chest on chest) made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. All original finish and hand made iron fittings. Hinged door hides two small drawers behind. Straight dovetail joinery and hardened wooden nail construction. Top section has two side carrying handles while bottom section has swivel carrying handles with attached locking pins to secure both sections together.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 36 1/4 W...

An antique Japanese Gyosho Bako also known as a merchant peddler's chest with the outer case and hinged door made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) and the inner drawers and drawer floor boards made of Hinoki (Cypress) woods. All original Urushi lacquer finish and hand made iron fittings. Side handles swivel up allowing a wood or bamboo pole to slide through so that two attendants can easily transport the chest. Alternatively, the horizontal wooden bar securing a rope in conjunction with the two rope h...

An antique Japanese Choba Tansu (merchant store chest) made of Kuwa (old Mulberry) and Kirinoki (Paulownia) woods. All original hand made iron fittings and finish. Two center hinged doors are removable with the hook and loop style hinge design. Front Warabite handles with two carrying handles on each side for positioning the chest and the additional swivel handles used with a wood pole to carry the chest from place to place. Lower right hinged door hides 3 smaller drawers.

Merchant che...

An antique Japanese Katana Tansu (sword chest) made entirely of Suginoki (Cryptomeria) wood. All original hand made iron fittings including the Hirute drawer handles. Some loss to the metal commensurate with its age. Large top drawer stored the Katana, medium drawer stored the Wakazashi and the small drawer stored the polishing tools and extra hardware.

Age: Meiji Period (1868-1912)

Dimensions: 44 1/4" Wide x 12" High x 12" Deep

A rare antique Japanese Kusuri Tansu (herbal medicine pharmacist chest) made of Kirinoki (Paulownia) and Suginoki (Cryptomeria) woods. All original finish and hand made iron fittings. Includes swivel side carrying handles which when flipped up allowed a wood or bamboo pole to slide through allowing two attendants to carry the chest about. Sliding doors allowed access to a storage area where herbal books, customer notes and prescriptions were stored. Total of 86 drawers make up this tansu.